About

Hello and welcome to Tasty Eats At Home. My name is Alta Mantsch, recipe writer, amateur food photographer, and self-proclaimed, self-taught, home-chef-in-training. I live north of Dallas, Texas, in a suburb that has one foot in suburban life and one foot in country life, with my wonderful husband John (the household taste-tester, guinea pig and occasional advisor), our two chihuahua mixes, and on a part-time basis, three amazing children.

About Tasty Eats At Home:

Tasty Eats At Home was born in July 2008 out of a desire to share my recipes and learning experiences with food. Our household consists of two full-time employed adults that work out of the home, two dogs, and sometimes, three teenagers. Like a great deal of families, we lead a busy, hectic lifestyle at times. This doesn’t mean that dinner has to always be reduced to fast food, frozen dinners, or processed foods. With a little planning , organization and know-how, we can all eat more healthy foods and whole ingredients and from-scratch cooking. My goal is to share with you my experiences as I learn to cook, learn balance and moderation, and perhaps we can all put a good, healthy dinner together even with lifestyle constraints, at least some of the time!

Most of the recipes are relatively easy to make, and call for ingredients that you can find in just about any grocery store. The recipes vary wildly, from various international cuisines, some gluten-free, some dairy-free, some vegetarian, and some are “good ol’ home cooking.” Many can be made in a weeknight, although I do have some that are more of a “Sunday afternoon” type of meal. A few are adapted or inspired by friends, family, websites, some of the blogs I regularly view, or magazine articles. If you have a recipe you’d like me to try and then post on this blog, by all means, send it my way! The more we share, the better we all eat, right?

About Alta:

For as long as I can recall, I’ve had a fascination for food and cooking. As a child, I was in the kitchen with my mother, asking to help, and tasting carrots, onions, or tomatoes as I chopped them for a salad, asking about the necessity of various ingredients in chocolate chip cookie dough, and learning the meaning of “stiff, but not dry” when referring to egg whites whipped for an angel food cake.

When my father made his appearance in the kitchen, I learned the powerful impact that spices had on rounding out, or dramatically changing, the flavor of a dish. I didn’t grow up with extravagant meals by any stretch, but as a child, I learned that with a little creativity, a delicious meal can be had, even on a budget. That philosophy stays with me in the kitchen even today.

As a young adult, my meals mostly consisted of ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese, or Special K for dinner. Once I tired of all of that, I attempted various dishes, and started to cook recipes from books. There were times when I called good ol’ Mom up to ask her questions (“Mom, what exactly is in your meatloaf? What about that goulash stuff you used to make for us?”) I give credit to those family members who were subjected to the results of my first attempts. Although they were mostly successful, there were definitely a few nights of “less-than-pleasurable” eating. But it wasn’t until fairly recently that I decided to venture outside of my comfort zone in the kitchen, and attempt to learn and build on my knowledge, and document those successful recipes along the way.

Many of the recipes in this blog are gluten-free, though not all are. I went on a long journey towards healing my digestive system. While I now can once again eat gluten (I do not have celiac disease), I have multiple family members who must follow a gluten-free diet due to gluten intolerance or celiac disease, so I continue to create and share gluten-free recipes. My belief is that even without gluten, a diet can be varied and full of flavor – there should never be compromise! My goal is to share with you delicious food that can bring your heart joy and nourish your body, one recipe at a time.

I also tend a small garden and regularly visit local farmers markets in order to stock up on the freshest of local foods. I hope to show you how to use various products and ingredients in delicious and innovative ways.

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Disclosure

Any diet or health-related information shared here is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any condition. If you are seeking medical advice, please speak with a licensed health care professional.

This site contains affiliate links. I only suggest and recommend companies and products I use myself. If you decide to purchase anything from my links, I may receive a commission. Using these affiliate links to make your purchase helps to support this site so I can keep creating and sharing delicious recipes with everyone. Thank you!